By Charity Shumway |

As Nightshade As They Come: Purple Eggplants

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In the fairy tales my grandmother used to read to me, peasants were always stealing into walled gardens by night, scrambling up vines or slipping through hidden doors, pocketing one or two precious fruits in the moonlight before trying to sneak away. Because the gardens were always owned by witches, inevitably, they were caught. Inevitably, they were punished. Curses cast, firstborns traded for freedom.

To my mind, the plants most likely to evoke such risky yearning and jealous guarding are Nightshades. To call these plants “the potato family” is to rob them of their magic. Give them their due: Nightshades or, even better, Solonaceae. In addition to your tomatoes and potatoes, you have Belladonna (deadly nightshade), Madragora (mandrake), and Nicotiana (tobacco) — names that surely evoke spells and powers. And then of course there is the Solanum melongena. Aubergine. Eggplant.

If white eggplants beckon with a ghostly glow, inky purple eggplants are more like black jewels. Deep, dark, alluring. Grow them, and you may find yourself guarding them as greedily as any sorcerer.

Varieties for your consideration…

Black Beauty, Hansel, and Nadia

  • Black Beauty: Gorgeous black orbs, open-pollinated, so you can collect the seeds and grow them again next year, and highly productive (up to a dozen fruits per plant).
  • Hansel: Harvest this slim variety when it’s young (now you’re the wicked witch). Where you’ll have to wait about 80 days for Black Beauty to be ripe, Hansel (and it’s sister variety, the white Gretel) are perfect at around 55 days and 2 to 3 inches.
  • Nadia: How could you resist, on name alone! These large glossy eggplants have the added benefit of being able to fruit under slightly cooler conditions than your average hybrid.

Fairy Tale and Orient Express

  • Fairy Tale: These may not hold quite the black magic of their deep purple brethren, but they’re beguiling nonetheless. Not to mention that they produce a profusion of gorgeous lavender flowers in addition to their purple fruit.
  • Orient Express: Long and lovely  and with the air of a mystery only Hercule Poirot can solve, these eggplants ripen early and fruit well in both heat and relative cool.
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